Sending and receiving text messages on a mobile communications device requires of the user mental capacity, to formulate or process the meaning of the message, visual capacity, to view the typed or received text, and tactile capacity, to navigate menus and/or type a message. The use of these capacities may be distracting, especially when the user is involved with other activities. For example, when a user is walking, the user may find it difficult to send and receive text messages without being distracted from the activities and other people around him or her.
Audio-based messages, however, require less visual and tactile capacities. A user may leave and listen to voicemails, for example, without excessive typing and without at all visually assessing a screen.
However, under current technology, the receiver of the message and the sender of a message effectively must use the same message format. When a sender chooses to send a message in a text format, the user will generally receive that message in a text format. To illustrate, a user sending a message may choose to telephone the intended recipient. Thus, the format of the message is an audio telephone call for both the sender and the receiver. Alternatively, the user sending a message may choose to record a voicemail and forward the voicemail to the intended user's voicemail box. Again, the message is in an audio format for both the sender and the receiver. Of course, the user sending the message may choose to send a text-based message, such as an e-mail or Short Message Service (SMS) message. Here, the format of the message is text for both the sender and the receiver.